Refuse in the past has been collected in trucks of various constructions. Initially, such trucks were merely open bodies into which the refuse was thrown, but these had the disadvantages that the refuse was not covered and has a tendency to spill over the body sides. To avoid such spillage, the truck was loaded to only part of its capacity. A further disadvantage was the fact that a refuse collector would often-times encounter heavy refuse articles or containers and would find it difficult, without help, to deposit the same in the collection truck.
More recently, compactor-type trash trucks have been developed wherein the refuse collector would deposit the refuse on the back portion of the truck body and this refuse would be delivered to the main portion of the truck body and compacted therein. Such compactor trucks were large, cumbersome and expensive. Because garbage and trash is usually light and bulky, the compactor-type trucks in order to justify their cost, must compact the refuse sufficiently to create a heavy, dense mass before leaving for the landfill which is usually some distance from the city. The high compacting forces that are required necessitate the fabrication of a truck body of sufficient rigidty to withstand the compacting forces, and this results in expensive manufacturing costs. In addition, since the refuse is highly compacted, it is sometimes difficult to unload and further presents a problem in even distribution over the landill area. Also, the compactor-type trash truck has mechanism within the body area which becomes intermingled with the garbage and trash, therefore creating operating and maintenance difficulties, not prevalent in the construction herein disclosed.
My invention provides a low-cost unit which serves the refuse-collection problem economically and efficiently. In use of my invention, the refuse is not compacted but is delivered to one body section which when filled, is operated to in turn deliver the refuse to another body section. In one embodiment of my invention, the truck body comprises a large main body section and a smaller loader section at the rear of the main section. The loader section has an opening at a low level through which the refuse may be easily deposited. The body sections are relatively movable so that the loader section may be moved to deposit refuse into the main section and then return for further refuse, and this is continued until the main body section is filled to capacity, whereupon the truck is moved to the land-fill or other dumping area. The main body section is then moved relative to the loader section so that the refuse moves through the latter section and is dumped.
The loader section of the truck body has a tailgate which may be swung to one position wherein it permits dumping of the refuse. In another position of the tailgate, it acts as a platform upon which a large refuse receptable, such as is commonly used in commercial establishments, may be placed and connected for transport by the loader section to dump its contents into the main body section. Also, in the latter position of the tailgate, it may function as a scoop when the truck is backed into a pile of aggregates so that the truck becomes a self-loader vehicle.
In another form of my invention, the two body sections may be substantially equal in size and are disposed relative to each other and to the truck chassis so that refuse may be loaded or unloaded from either side of the truck.